PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA PUBLIC PROGRAMS SERIES, THE: THE CAST OF BROADWAY'S HIT PLAY, THE 39 STEPS {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented at he Paley Center for Media. Held at the Paley Center in New York, this evening celebrates “The 39 Steps,” a farce Broadway play based on the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock in which four actors play dozens of roles. Three episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” are screened after a brief discussion. Host Allen Glover (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces current cast members Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton. They then acknowledge their co-stars Jennifer Ferrin and Sam Robards in the audience. They talk briefly about the show, explaining how it was “reimagined” from Hitchcock’s film, and then discuss “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and Hitchcock’s interest in the freedom and “fun” provided by the medium of television. Saunders then discusses his experience starring in a 1980s remake of the episode “Fog Bound.” They then introduce the episodes that are to be screened and the actors in them, including Peter Lorre and Jessica Tandy.
Two tickets are then awarded to a guest, and questions from the audience lead to a brief discussion of the following topics: advice about the best possible seats for the show; the use of accents and a dialect coach; whether the show can be appreciated by those who have not seen the film; additions by the actors to the original script, “in-jokes” and references to other Hitchcock works; and the lack of stage directions and freedom for the actors to create the effects.
The three episodes are then screened in their entirety: “Lamb to the Slaughter” (for synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM T83:0174); “Man From the South” (for synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM T85:0990); and “The Glass Eye” (for synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM T:05958).
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: September 18, 2008 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:38
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:93356
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Allen Glover … Host
- Cliff Saunders … Guest
- Arnie Burton … Guest
- Jennifer Ferrin … Guest
- Sam Robards … Guest
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Peter Lorre
- Jessica Tandy